Classic Psytrance Remixes

Classic Psytrance Remixes

By Pavel Zagalsky

Hmmm Remixes… Electronic Music producers’ equivalent of a friendly handjob. I rub your back, you rub my penis. All in good fun and everybody has a good time. Psytrance remixes are no different. In our little scene the friendly handjob aka The Remix is a well liked social currency that in very rare occasions serve its higher purpose which is of course, improving on the original, adding producer’s personal touch and giving a new interpretation to the original material.

Here I gathered a short list of classic psytrance remixes that are at the very least equal to their original versions or even transcend them.

Listen to this list of classic psytrance remixes:

The Infinity Project – Hyperactive (Acid Rockers Remix)

Ahh no brainer here.. The original was written by Graham Wood, Raja Ram and a fella named Anjay Sian, who I know nothing about, back in 1991 when Raja Ram was only starting his transformation from a middle aged man into a timeless deity from other dimension. This tune is so old it was basically written on sticks and stones. Back at the times when Goa was just a place in India with Westerners that forgot their home address due to excessive LSD habit. The aforementioned remix was released just 6 years later and was that much better. I have no idea who those Acid Rockers lads are but their Psy Trance/Breakbeat style rocks quite much.

Younger brother – Psychic Gibbon (Protoculture Remix)

First, let me tell you something pendejo. When you attempt to remix a Younger Brother tune you either simply embarrass yourself or you fail miserably. Luckily, for some inexplicable reason this remix actually works. What’s more amazing is it takes a slow tempo album closing tune and repurposes it as a dancefloor banger. Nate Raubenheimer AKA Protoculture pulls off a spectacular job here. I guess growing in the mean streets of Cape Town taught Nate something about taking monumental risks and not giving much fucks.

X-Dream – 2nd Room (Future Prophecy Remix)

Speaking about guys from tough neighbourhoods. The Future Prophecy duo hail from the tough neighbourhoods in Beer Sheva, Israel. And here they grab another tune that takes a lot of cojones to remix. X-Dream are a well established Psy Trance royalty and being that young upcomer in the scene that tries to remix the legend is almost always a bad idea. Future Prophecy decided to do just that and surprisingly they managed to really pull it off pretty well.

What can be said about Cosma that wasn’t said already? … Here he takes a tune of a duo he must’ve really look up to and managed to push it a bit forward with his own style.

Vibrasphere – Purple Floating (Cosma Remix)

What can be said about Cosma that wasn’t said already? He was such a talented dude that found his own unique niche between the powerful Israeli Full-on sound and the Atmos/Vibrasphere influenced Progressive Trance. Here he takes a tune of a duo he must’ve really look up to and managed to push it a bit forward with his own style. RIP Avihen.

Pink Floyd – Welcome to the machine (Oforia Remix)

I mentioned above the balls it take to remix a Simon Posford tune and in this case, the ballsiness level is a sharp step forward. Taking a timeless classic Pink Floyd tune and turning it into a credible Psy Trance track takes a hell of an effort and love. Throughout these whole 8 minutes Ofer Dikovsky had nothing but love and respect for Pink Floyd who surely had an undeniable influence on his music.

Etnica – Triptonite (Fractal Glider Remix)

Another hot potato here. Triptonite is arguably the best Etnica track they ever wrote and it was remixed many times over to varying degree of awfulness by Etnica themselves and others. Here the tune was remixed by Fractal Glider who is known mainly for playful and groovy Full-on and he delivers just that. A somewhat underrated gem if you ask me.

Deedrah – Reload (GMS Remix)

Ya’ll gonna hate me for this one and wish terrible things upon my family in the comments. Insinuating that GMS’ remix is even as good as the seminal Full On classic by Dado. But I think that the added GMS juice really kicks this already brilliant track up to the stratosphere. It works that much better on the dancefloor and was played to death when it was released.

Alien Project – Crystal Skulls (Astrix Remix)

Originally released on the classic Mystery Of The Thirteen Crystal Skulls compilation Alien Project’s Astrix’s Crystal Skulls was a brilliant mid tempo tune. It was a nice set opener but you couldn’t really go further with it. This remix just strips away the bland parts and quickly shows you why Astrix became such a big name in the scene.

This remix just strips away the bland parts and quickly shows you why Astrix became such a big name in the scene.

Art of Trance – Octopus (Man With No Name remix)

There was a time when Martin Freeland could touch any turd and polish it into a dancefloor bomb. Octopus by Art of Trance was not a turd by any stretch of imagination but it obviously didn’t have the powerful Goa sound Martin brought to the DJ table. The track was recently remixed by Perfect Stranger who gave it a very unique and updated rendition but it really doesn’t compare to this remix which was just an absolute dancefloor monster.

Psysex – Survival Kit (Sub 6 Remix)

Back in the end of the 90s the Psysex duo championed their goofy brand of Psychedelic Trance laced with funny South Park samples and plethora of scratchy sounds with fat beats. Since their split they ventured into completely different artistic paths and Survival Kit together with L.S. Dance and Bionic Bong are probably the best relics of their merry past. Sub6 were the hot team at 2004 with a string of excellent releases and a full album on Hommega that solidified their place on the scene. Skillfully remixing this classic just proved their claim for greatness.